Ordinances-1981-97

costs of towing, preserving, storing and notification required, in accordance with state law, and any balance shall be disposed of as required by law. Where the sale of any vehicle fails to realize the amount necessary to meet costs, the mayor or other peace officer designated by the Council of Tiffin, Iowa, shall apply for reimbursement from the state as provided by law. SECTION VII. Inoperable Abandoned Vehicle.. Any totally inoperable abandoned vehicle as defined in subsection la of Section II of this ordinance or any such inoperable vehicle left on private property by other than the owner or person in charge of the private property shall be disposed of by the mayor or other peace officer designated by the Council of Tiffin, Iowa, to a demolisher unless he deems it practicable to sell it as provided in Section VI of this ordinance. A sale to a demolisher shall not require the notification or public auction, but the mayor or other peace officer designated by the Council of Tiffin, Iowa, shall endeavor to obtain as much compensation as possible to defray any costs to the city. A person, firm, corporation, or this city or other unit of government upon whose property or in whose possession is found any abandoned motor vehicle, or any person being the owner of a motor vehicle whose title certificate if faulty, lost, or destroyed, may, without notification procedures, dispose of such motor vehicle if it lacks an engine, or two or more wheels, or other structural part which renders the vehicle totally inoperable, to a demolisher for junk without a title. SECTION VIII. Junk Vehicles and Machinery: a Nuisance. It is hereby declared that storage within the corporate limits of Tiffin, Iowa, of a junk motor vehicle or junk machinery upon private property owned or controlled by the owner of the vehicle or machinery, unless excepted by Section XIV of this ordinance, constitutes a threat to the health and safety of the citizens of Tiffin, Iowa, and is a nuisance within the meaning of Section 657.1 and 368.3 of the Code of Iowa and said storage is hereby declared to be unlawful. SECTION IX. Owner of Motor Vehicle Prima Facie Liable. If any junked motor vehicle is stored upon private property in violations of this ordinance, the owner of said junked motor vehicle shall be prima facie liable for said violation. In the absence of any known or ascertainable owner of said motor vehicle, the owner of the property on which the motor vehicle's storage shall be prima facie liable for said violation. SECTION X. Notice To Abate. Upon discovery of any junk motor vehicle or junk machinery stored upon private property within the corporate limits of this city in violation of